


All I Want For Christmas Is You

by rainbowdots888



Category: 8UPPERS (2010), Johnny's Entertainment, Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, One True Pairing, Tenderness, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 01:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12996678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowdots888/pseuds/rainbowdots888
Summary: It's never too late to look back and accept our past.





	All I Want For Christmas Is You

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas Everyone! :)

 

 

“Ace! Hurry, for fuck's sake! We're awfully late.”

 

“Relax, Babe. Mac won't dare to yell at us, it's Christmas after all.”

 

“Don't call me that.” Johnny's pouting lips were soon met by Ace's zealous ones.

 

“I'll call you that as long as you'll allow me in your bed.” The boxer playfully added while trying to smooth his crumpled suit with his hands. They had just gone crazy for a few minutes, alright, but it was not like their mission couldn't wait.

 

“How about your hair? Are you going to redo all that... stuff?” He mocked a little while gesturing over his own hair.

 

“Nah. You made sure to ruin it. Tonight, natural will do, I guess.”

 

Ace slapped his lover's butt.

 

“Good. I prefer it like this.”

 

“I'm not even asking your opinion, to be honest.”

 

“In the end, _Babe_ , I know that for you at least, my opinion counts. Please note, though, that natural hair or not, I'd fuck you anywh...”

 

“Shhh. Please. We have to go.” Johnny said with all the seriousness he could gather, given that Ace's hands were already, and again, slipping under the ironed fabric of his white shirt.

 

“... That's not fair... All I want tonight is to be with you. You only.”

 

It was rare for Ace to whine, and Johnny had to admit that this childish side of his lover was cute. Somehow.

 

“If I didn't fear your wrath, I'd say you're the cutest for telling me that.”

 

“And... because you're a clever guy, you never said it.”

 

“Never.”

 

They kissed some more with smiles on their lips and finally left Johnny's room and the club.

 

The streets were quiet at this hour of the night and the sound of their steps was muffled by the purest snow carpet Ace had seen in a while. Lights flickered, people were running to get home before the last train and he slipped his right hand into Johnny's duffle coat's pocket to intertwine their fingers together. The other pretended not to notice, but his thumb still tenderly brushed the top of Ace's hand.

 

It had been a tradition, established by Mac and Jacky when they were in their early twenties, that every Christmas Eve, they would anonymously visit the orphanages of the city and leave presents at the door.

 

Ace was usually not fond of that weird mission. His orphanage years were a terrible memory and he'd rather forget about that time when he was nothing, just a child with problems and without parents. On the contrary, Johnny had always seemed to enjoy playing Santa. So much, that Ace had carefully avoided being paired up with him on Christmas night in order to get home for their traditional feast earlier.

 

The shorter this mission was, the better.

 

But this year was different. Sometime around June, half a year ago, he had finally gathered enough courage to confess. After years of playing cat and mouse with the young man, of having sex once in a while without ever naming the feelings properly, he'd confessed.

 

And Johnny had smiled. One of those very rare but dazzling smiles the young man kept for the very special moments of his life. Ace could count on his fingers the number of those smiles he'd seen in his life. His confession was one of them and it almost made him cry, then. Almost, because he still had a certain composure to keep.

 

“Did you load the presents in the van?”

 

“Hm?” He came out of his reverie at his lover's sudden question.

 

“The presents. The van...?”

 

“Oh. Yes, I did.”

 

“Great. You're driving.” Johnny ordered while handing him the keys.

 

And Ace nodded, smiling. He had been changed by Johnny, for sure. He would have thrown the keys back to the other's pretty face a few years ago.

 

But his lover was a particularly difficult man to tame, even tougher than himself, it seemed. Ace was still waiting for a confession, for a word, a letter maybe, all this romantic stuff he initially thought Johnny was a specialist of. But for now, the young man just winking at him once they were installed in the van felt enough of a proof.

 

He started the engine and asked for the directions. He had never taken part in the organization of their Christmas mission and basically ignored which orphanage Johnny and him had to visit.

 

“Well, you know the place. Tonight, we've got to go back to our old home.” Johnny's voice was thick with emotion. He was looking outside at the Christmas illuminations and the snow with melancholy. Saying that he was beautiful at that moment would have been an understatement and Ace marveled at the pure features of his companion.

 

“Will you be alright?” He asked, slightly uncomfortable. If he had known where they had to go that night, he would have avoided playing it naughty. The last thing he wanted was to make Johnny embarrassed or just sad.

 

“Yeah. I think so. It's not like we're still living there. We're adults now.”

 

He found the way to the orphanage on instinct as if the map had been engraved into his soul years ago and parked the van in a narrow street not far from the huge building.

 

All the lights were off. It was almost midnight and it looked like the children had all gone to bed already. And that was for the better. They would deliver the presents in front of the gate, and quickly go back to their comfy club to eat and laugh with their friends. He didn't even need to look at the gloomy facade he hated to do that. Just deliver the presents. Never look back.

 

They grabbed the bags he had loaded at the back of the van earlier and stealthily walked until the metallic gates. It was snowy as well here and their silhouettes formed two black stains on the white cushion covering the sidewalk. Johnny was expressionless, obviously concentrating as much as he could to avoid crying.

 

Once they had dropped the heavy bags off, Ace turned heels and took a few steps toward the van. He had managed not to look up, he felt very proud of himself.

 

“Ace. Wait.”

 

He stopped suddenly, fearing what Johnny was about to say. The snow had started to fall again on them, covering their black coats with a beautiful iridescent powder.

 

“I'd like to... Go inside.”

 

“What? But... It's closed. It's forbidden. _And_ it's super late.”

 

“Usually, none of those matters is a problem for you.”

 

“Johnny... I'm not sure it's good for you. For us. We should just join the others and enjoy our night. Jacky has cooked a real feast.”

 

“I need it. Please.”

 

The tall man was standing in front of the gates, looking up at all the square and dark windows rhythming the gloomy walls of their old place. He looked fascinated, mesmerized by the grey building and Ace suddenly understood how important it was for his lover.

 

“... Alright. I can't refuse you a thing when you're asking that sweetly.” He tried to justify himself as he used the metallic fence as a support and jumped over it. “Come on Babe, we have to move quickly. Let's not end the night in a cell.”

 

Johnny jumped as well and landed in a small mount of snow, which swallowed him half. Ace bit the inside of his cheek to keep his cool. It was not the moment to laugh at the other, he still wanted to cuddle after their little adventure.

 

“Damn snow!” The young man spat, ragingly brushing the white powder off him. “I'm freezing cold now.”

 

And once again, Ace stopped himself from saying that he would warm Johnny up anytime. His tacky sense of humor would have to wait for the party.

 

“What did you wanna see?”

 

“The Backyard. Where the baseball field was. Do you remember?”

 

“Yeah. Gum used to kick my brat's ass there. Painful memories...”

 

Johnny walked by him and let his hand tenderly caress his nape and his cheek, a sweet smile on his lips. This unexpected gesture made the boxer's heart jump in joy and he followed the other's steps without even complaining until they turned the corner of the silent building and found themselves on a huge yard covered in snow.

 

A few snowmen had been built by the children but it looked exactly like twenty years before, wide and impersonal, overlooked by a single centenarian cherry tree under which Ace had talked to Johnny for the first time.

 

Johnny, who was walking toward the tree without any hesitation, a slender black silhouette digging a path in the thick snow. If there were guardians awake, Ace thought, they wouldn't miss them at all. They would turn the alarm on. So he ran after his companion and joined him under the cover of the tree's twisted black branches.

 

Johnny ran a hand on the frozen bark as if he were saying hello to the plant.

 

“Long time no see.” He murmured, before walking around the trunk and stopping at the exact spot he had been looking for. There was a cross there, engraved in the wood.

 

And suddenly, Ace remembered. He remembered that day, twenty-three years ago when they had buried something among these roots. The seven of them had sworn to help and support each other throughout their whole life, and they had sealed their friendship this way, after years of sufferings and loneliness. Their pledge had been signed on the most beautiful piece of paper Mac had found, then, and buried in a box with tokens each of them had given to eternity.

 

“The time capsule...” He whispered, looking at Johnny's hands searching for the engraved single root under the snow.

 

“Yes. Don't you think it's time for us to open it?”

 

He fell on his knees next to the other despite the snow and dug into it until they found what they were looking for. An infinity symbol was still marking the tree, where Toppo had carved it with his pocket knife. They started removing the frozen dirt, helped by some flat rocks they found around, not minding the stains on their usually pristine suits and the cold slowly worming itself up their limbs.

 

They heard a clang when Johnny reached the box and dug faster until they could tear their treasure from its frozen cocoon.

 

“Shall we open it?” Ace asked, noticing the warm smile the other was giving the item.

 

“Do it. Please. I can't.” There was something very child-like in Johnny's voice, a high pitched sound giving out both his fear and his eagerness in front of their discovery.

 

So Ace opened the box and suddenly bright colors jumped to his eyes in the middle of all this snow whiteness. The paper was still there, folded and sealed with a beautiful red wax they'd found - and stolen - in the headteacher's office.

 

Johnny quickly reached for a small plushie, a tiny dog with big eyes that seemed to have kept its softness throughout the years.

 

“Look! It's still so fluffy...”

 

The young man pressed the stuffed toy against his cheek and looked like he was nine all over again.

 

“Hm. Stop being this cute. It's ridiculous.” Ace felt vaguely embarrassed at the whole thing but also thanked the gods for the trust his lover had put in him. Never would Johnny show this side of him to the others despite their brotherly bond. The boxer felt that it was only him who got to understand the whole picture, the only one Johnny trusted enough to show himself naked, both literally and figuratively speaking.

 

The other smiled softly and looked at him, straight in the eyes, with one of the most intense stare he'd ever given to him.

 

“And you? What did you put in there, back then?”

 

“I... I don't remember. Maybe that action figure, here. It feels quite familiar.”

 

“We should bring the box back to the club, don't you think?”

 

“Sure. They'll like it. As a Christmas present, I mean... And... How about you? What would you like to get, if I were to give you a present?” The question sounded weird in that situation but somehow Ace felt it was the moment to play his role. To be a lover, a companion. A tender presence soothing all the pain for the one he loved.

 

Johnny looked at him intensely again and smiled. A dazzling smile, so bright Ace shivered. It was the second time for him to be given this beautiful grin and once again, he felt like tears were coming. At least, he could blame it on the cold if he ever started crying for real.

 

“All I want is you. I don't need presents if I can fall asleep in your arms tonight.”

 

“Oh... I... Alright.” He sobbed in response, too moved to say something more clever.

 

Johnny leaned in and tenderly kissed his frozen lips. He answered the kiss with abandon and let his hands run into his lover's thick hair to keep him the longest possible there, pressed against his mouth, as a love statement.

 

“Your nose is super cold” He shivered in Johnny's arms.

 

The other laughed and stood, helping Ace with a hand.

 

“We're both frozen. We should go back.”

 

“Mac will bawl us out. The suits are ruined.”

 

“I'll take responsibility for that, don't worry... I was the one asking you.”

 

“I don't fear Mac nor Jacky nor any of them. Who do you think I am? And if he's being too moody, I'll bite him, or I'll punch his pretty face, or...”

 

Ace stopped talking. Of course, he wouldn't hurt his friend, and Johnny knew. Johnny who had just confessed, finally. With his own words, in his own weird way.

 

And suddenly Ace felt grateful for the gloomy orphanage, for the grey and cracking walls that had imprisoned their sad childhood. Because it was there he had met the most important person in his life, the place where he'd found a family, his own family, brothers, love, and warmth.

 

He followed Johnny over the fence and once back into the street, didn't look back. He was finally at peace with himself.

 

****************  
  
Later that night, Ace was lying on Johnny's bed with his lover snuggled up to him. He felt hot, too hot almost. The other was a real hot water bottle when sleeping and the boxer had kicked all the sheets and covers off the bed a while ago.

 

His thumb was drawing imaginary shapes on the young man's back as he looked at the ceiling on which the illuminations of the streets projected phantasmagoric shapes.

 

Their Christmas party had gone so well. Mac had not said a word about the ruined suits, Jacky's food had tasted perfect, they'd exchanged small presents and laughs, and finally, Johnny had put the box in the middle of the table.

 

Instantly everyone had stopped talking, their emotion palpable in the air. Even Arsenal had seemed genuinely touched by the sudden apparition of one of his fondest memories and had hardly refrained from gasping when he held in hand his first toy gun.

 

They'd all retrieved their tokens and Ace had discovered that the action figure was not his but Gum's. Once everyone had found theirs, there was only one thing left next to the folded paper, a tiny toy car painted yellow and green, that he recognized as his favorite. His brain had done whatever it could to erase all memories of that time but once he got the car in his hands and could read the initials of his real name that he had clumsily written under it with a marker, he had felt, for the second time that day, at peace.

 

He kissed Johnny's forehead and slowly looked around at the room. Their discarded clothes, books everywhere, a gun, forgotten on a shelf.

 

Their life was messy, for sure. He didn't even know if they would live long enough to see another Christmas Eve.

 

But if they did, he would go back giving presents to the orphans. And he would do so hand in hand with Johnny.

 

All they wanted for Christmas was to be together, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
